Make Ahead Seeded Oats

Do you remember when the internet had a collective “Aha!” moment over smoothie packs? Maybe not if you’re not looking at food online 24/7 like me, but believe me when I say the world changed a little bit when people figured out that it was a lot easier to pre-make individual baggies of their smoothie fixings instead of pulling out each separate ingredient every time they wanted to whip up a nutritious drink. Sometimes the simplest ideas are the most easily overlooked, which is why I’m sharing my Make Ahead Seeded Oats with you today.

It’s the same concept as smoothie packs, but with oatmeal. Instead of pulling out ten different ingredients to make an epic bowl of oats every morning, take five minutes to pre-pack a week’s worth of oats with your dry add-ins so that each morning you can simply dump them a bowl, add liquid, and microwave until hot. I love adding a bazillion things into my oats, so this definitely saves me time and makes me resist the urge to just eat toast.

The best part? You can eat your Make Ahead Seeded Oats hot or cold and I’ll give instructions for both below. You can eat them as plain or dressed up as you’d like and I’ll give ideas for fun add-ins that I enjoy.

Make Ahead Seeded Oats

This is a “concept” post rather than a recipe, so I’m not doing a price breakdown. My bowl of oats changes every morning based on whatever I have in my pantry or fridge that needs to be used up, but the basic outline is below. I’d love to hear what your favorite oat add-ins are, so leave your own special mix in the comments at the bottom of the post!

Instructions

Add the oats, flaxseed, hemp seeds, chia seeds, cinnamon, and salt into each air-tight container (zip-top bags, reusable plastic containers, or glass containers with lids). If you are using a dry sweetener, like sugar, brown sugar, or stevia, you can add them to the dry mix. Store in a cool dry place indefinitely.

To prepare the oats hot, add 2/3 cup water, milk, or non-dairy milk and stir to combine. Microwave on high for one minute, stir, then microwave in 30 second intervals until thickened. Let the seeded oats sit at room temperature for about 2 minutes to thicken further. Add in any extra items (fresh fruit, peanut butter, syrup, etc.) just before serving.

To prepare cold oats, add 2/3 cup water, milk, or non-dairy milk, stir to combine, then refrigerate for 8 hours or up to 3-4 days. Stir in any fresh add-ins just before serving.

Recipe Notes

Adding a pinch of salt to oatmeal is a game changer. It really punches up the flavors and makes the oats seem very rich.

Add After Cooking:

Fresh or frozen fruit

Liquid sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, or agave

Fats like coconut oil, butter, peanut butter, or almond butter

I like to use a 2:1 liquid to oats ratio, even with the absorbent nature of the chia and flaxseeds. So, when I use 1/3 cup rolled oats in my oatmeal packs, I add 2/3 cup liquid (water, milk, or non-dairy milk) before cooking or before overnight cold-soaking.

I like to store my Make Ahead Seeded Oats in jars because they’re reusable, microwaveable, and I can just add my almond milk straight to the jar for soaking overnight if I decided I want a cold breakfast. (The photo above is the cold-soaked Make Ahead Seeded Oats)

You can also pack your oats in snack-sized zip top bags, or reusable plastic containers.

There are two things that really take a bowl of oats to the next level: a pinch of salt, and some sort of fat, whether it be coconut oil, peanut butter, or regular butter. PB is my favorite du jour, but coconut oil is my second fav.

There are too many mornings where I just each toast with butter (it’s whole grain toast but still not the best all the time). So thank-you so much for this post! I definitely need to hit up the grocery store to grab some seeds and use my mason jars :)

I use quick oats and at work we have an electric kettle and no microwave in the office so I just heat up the water first and then add it to the oats, stir and let sit for a few minutes to cook and then enjoy :).

I found myself doing this so much a few years ago then quit. I think it was because i quit wanting oatmeal. Been craving it, so should add it back.
Last time, I would do maple syrup and brown sugar, chocolate chips or those water flavorings to make sickeningly sweet ones . Now, I would do more spices and dried fruits. My favorite measure it out and then microwave (was faster for just one person) is to do crystallized ginger, allspice and nutmeg. Sometimes even throw in some pumpkin puree. No, I don’t have a sweet tooth still.

I’m with you on the peanut butter! I also like to add either dried blueberries, mini chocolate chips, dates, protein powder, or peanut flour. Chopped fresh cranberries and slivered almonds are great too. You need to cook the cranberries with the oats though to mellow them slightly.

Hi! I’m Beth

As a food lover and a number cruncher I've decided that cooking on a budget shouldn't mean canned beans and ramen noodles night after night. Join me for delicious recipes designed for small budgets. More »